


No Better Way

by queen_scribbles



Category: The Wayhaven Chronicles (Interactive Fiction)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:28:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24926962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queen_scribbles/pseuds/queen_scribbles
Summary: AJ knows exactly how she wants to spend her day off.
Relationships: Female Detective/Nathaniel "Nate" Sewell
Comments: 6
Kudos: 22





	No Better Way

**Author's Note:**

> "No reason" kiss prompt from tumblr

It was funny, Abigail mused, how even though so much had changed, some things stayed the same.

The supernatural was real, she’d met several different races, _negotiated a_ _treaty_ with one group, found out her father had known about this world, she and Mason were actually sort of _friends_ now...

And still she hesitated outside Nate’s door with butterflies in her stomach. But even those were different; anticipation rather than nerves. Well. Along with nerves. With one last deep breath and slight biting of her lower lip, Abigail raised one hand and rapped her knuckles against the door.

It opened fast enough to make her wonder if Nate had been standing there waiting for her to knock. A theory further born out by the warm smile already curving his lips. “AJ, this is a pleasant surprise; I wasn’t expecting to see you today. Did you need something?”

“No. Well, sort of, yeah.” She winced at the stumbling words and shoved her hands in her pockets, tilting her head back to meet his eyes. “I’m off today for the first time in absolute _ages_ an’ I wanted to, um, spend at least part of it with you. If you don’t have anything important to do, I mean.”

Nate’s face lit up and his smile widened until it crinkled the corners of his eyes. “I’d love to. But you could have called; I would have been more than happy to come to you. I know the drive out isn’t exactly kind to your car.”

“Eh, I just walked today,” Abigail shrugged, smile of her own tugging her lips. “Besides, It’s handled worse. And I’ll deal with any terrain I hafta if you’re waitin’ at the other end.”

Nate chuckled, clearly catching the reference.

“Are you sure-” She leaned against the doorframe, but misjudged the balance and started to teeter.

He caught her arm to steady her and was gentleman enough not to laugh, even if she saw the mirth flickering in his eyes. “Careful.”

“Thanks.” Abigail cleared her throat and tried not to think too much about either the flush climbing her cheeks or the warmth of his hand on her arm. “Are y’ sure you don’t have anything important...?”

“Nothing more important than you,” Nate said, letting go of her arm to brush stray curls back behind her ear.

Abigail bit her lip as she smiled, the butterflies in her stomach whirling anew. “Right, then. I know it isn’t a terribly excitin’ plan, but I was thinkin’ we could sit in the library an’ read together for a while?”

“Ah, so it’s the books you really wanted,” he said, shoving his hands in the pockets of his jeans.

“No, b’cause we both-” She caught the glimmer of laughter in his eyes and narrowed her own, one brow arched playfully. “Are you teasin’ me, Agent Sewell?”

Nate broke into a wide, warm smile. “Maybe just a little, Detective Jenings.” His smile softened in a way that made her bite her lip as he freed one hand to hold out toward her. “Truthfully, I can think of no better way to spend my day.”

“It’s a date, then,” Abigail grinned, slipping her hand into his with alacrity for the walk through the halls.

**\---**

It proved every bit the perfect choice she’d thought it would be. Settled in on one of the deep comfortable couches, all the books a girl could want, and Nate right next to her. Abigail was so lost in her book it wasn’t even a conscious decision to shift so she was leaning more against Nate than the back of the couch, but he didn’t seem fazed by it. He just moved his arm out of the way til she’d settled, then let it rest around her shoulders, his thumb rubbing gentle, absent-minded arcs against her arm.

A few pages further into her book, Abigail reached up to intertwine her fingers with his, confident they could both read one-handed without too much difficulty. That confidence proved well-founded, and they promptly lost all track of time. It wasn’t until an idle glance at her finished books revealed the stack had grown to _ **six**_ that she realized how much of the day had passed. Guilt curled briefly in her chest, but was quickly dispelled with a single glance up at Nate. Even if she’d not meant to claim so much of his time, he hardly looked like he minded that she _had_ ; contentedness plain on his face and his thumb brushing across her knuckles as he read.

_I could just stare at him forever_ , she thought, entranced by the way the sunlight caught his hair and played across his face, how happy he looked. It made her chest ache--but it was a _good_ ache--to know she was part of why he looked so content.

_”How could I not be? Having you with me in my favorite place,”_ he’d said before, as if it were more than enough explanation, and it was apparently just as true now.

Abigail wasn’t sure what compelled her to break the silence, but she did. “Nate?”

Those dizzyingly warm brown eyes swung without hesitation from his book to her. “Yes, Abigail?”

The happy ache in her chest strangled off her voice, so instead she untangled her hand from his to cup his jaw and tug him down into a kiss.

It quickly turned deeper than intended, and Abigail was only vaguely aware of the faint thud as Nate’s book hit the floor before his fingers slid into her hair. Both of them leaned into the kiss, holding each other close as it lingered and deepened further.

Unfortunately, breathing was still a necessity, and Abigail was forced to break the kiss with a ragged gasp for air.

Nate chuckled and rested his forehead against hers. “What was that for?”

She pulled back just enough to meet his eyes, grinning to match the spark she saw in them as she mumbled, “Do I need a reason?”

He smiled and leaned in for a quick, soft--almost chaste--kiss. “No.”

“Good, I don’t really have one,” Abigail confessed, wrinkling her nose over a small, sheepish smile. She traced her fingers down his jawline and back up, smiling wider at the quiet, shaky breath he pulled as she did. “It’s just good seein’ you so happy, and being so happy, and...” The words trailed off, insufficient to describe the wonderful ache in her chest and distracted by the smile tugging his lips. “What?”

Nate shook his head, pressed a gentle kiss to her temple. “I’m very glad you chose to spend your day with me, AJ,” he said simply, then bent down to retrieve his book and settled back in to resume reading.

Abigail did the same, biting back a giddy smile as she found her lost page in the tome resting across her lap. They lapsed into the comfortable silence of shared contentment and lost themselves in good company and good books once more.

At least until Abigail’s stomach started growling too loudly to be ignored, driving them from their solitude in search of something for her to eat.


End file.
